"The change is in your pocket", or so the slogan for the euro changeover awareness campaign goes. You'll notice the change all right. Come the first few weeks of 2002, you will more than likely come across some crisp, new notes and shiny coins when you fumble around in your pocket or purse for change to buy your morning copy of The Irish Times. If you only have euro coins, you will have to fork out €1.21 rather than 95 pence.

"Just what we need in this country, another price hike" may be a typical reaction from some ill-informed punters. (Since January 1st, 1999, the value of the Irish punt has been fixed to that of the euro, so it's not actually an real increase.) If this is found to be a common reaction, then the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland will have failed in its campaign to raise awareness about the changeover.

"Sorry, that's Irish money, not euros" may be a typical response from a newsagent or retailer. If this turns out to be common response, then it will be the Central Bank's fault.

This is because the Central Bank will be responsible for publicising the appearance of the euro notes and coins. This includes informing people about what to look for in a genuine note.

The Central Bank also has the job of printing the money that will be circulated in Ireland's shops, pubs and other commercial establishments. Their information campaign will be one part of a Europe-wide campaign.

Interestingly, unlike the ECBI campaign, the Central Bank will not be revealing the appearance of the final notes and coins to the public until September this year, rather than right now.

According to Neil Whoriskey of the Central Bank, one reason for not revealing the notes until September is to give forgers less chance to get themselves organised. Draft notes have been revealed, says Whoriskey, but these are not the final versions, so there is little point in would be forgers attempting to try to copy them.

The campaign to publicise the notes and coins will follow the same theme throughout the EU, and central banks in each country are responsible for the organising of their respective campaigns.

And while the main phase of the Central Bank's campaign will start in September, it will be separate but complementary to the ECBI's advertising.